Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. pulls out of Saturday’s fight at Anaheim

Pawel Wolak leaned on the cinderblock wall and stewed.

Less than a week ago, Wolak (27-1, 17 knockouts) had leaped at the invitation to fight the popular Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. in the main event of Saturday night’s pay-per-view card at Anaheim’s Honda Center.

“I dropped everything I was planning and said yes,” said Wolak, who had trained for a mid-December bout in Brooklyn. “Three days later, they told me they wanted to change the fight weight [from 160 pounds] to 165 and I said yes again.”

On Tuesday, Wolak learned he would have to make a far more brutal concession. Chavez Jr.’s handlers reported the son of the legendary Mexican fighter awoke with a 103-degree fever and had to withdraw from the bout.

Wolak is out of the main event and will fight a far lesser known opponent from Mexico, Jose Pinzon (18-1-1, 12 KOs).

To Wolak, a native of Poland who is a brick worker for Pointers Cleaners and Caulkers Union Local 1 in Long Island when he’s not in training, something’s amiss.

“I personally don’t believe there’s an illness,” Wolak said in Justin Fortune’s Hollywood gym. “I believe he’s having a weight problem and it’s a tough fight for him. I think he’s scared of the loss. To fight me, you have to come into that ring in tip-top shape. He obviously isn’t.”

Chavez Jr. (41-0-1, 30 KOs) originally backed out of a September fight with Wolak in August over what was explained as “family issues.”

This time, six days after Wolak replaced injured Chavez opponent Alfonso Gomez, Chavez trainer Freddie Roach said his boxer labored through four rounds of sparring Monday. By Tuesday morning, Chavez’s flu symptoms worsened, including the high fever. Roach directed Chavez to a hospital.

“His legs stiffened up on him so much he couldn’t walk,” Roach said of Monday’s workout. “His legs were tight as a drum. People get sick in life. As sick as he is, I can’t put him in the fight. His life would be in danger.”

Wolak’s strength and conditioning coach Farrell Brenner, when told of the late scratch, said, “Whatever is going on is in question.”

Chavez’s cancellation does nothing to soften the opinions of those who believe the legendary champion’s son is no more than a coddled marketing attraction whose toughness is a shell of his father’s.

“Put it this way: He gets a lot more favors than I do,” Wolak said. “You’ll see my toughness in the fight Saturday. I’m an action fighter.”

Chavez’s absence made former world flyweight champion Nonito Donaire of the Philippines Saturday’s main-event draw against former world bantamweight champ Volodymyr Sydorenko of Ukraine in a bantamweight bout.

The card also will include a world lightweight title defense by Humberto Soto versus challenger Urbano Antillon of Maywood.

Fight promoter Top Rank said ticket buyers who want a refund due to the Chavez Jr. withdrawal can do so by contacting the company that sold them the tickets.

Donaire may have had the biggest surprise. When he entered Fortune’s gym for a workout Tuesday he learned he had been elevated to the main-event fighter.

“I’m a what?” he said. “I just woke up, man. Wow!”

Donaire (24-1, 16 KOs) has already signed to fight Fernando Montiel in an HBO-televised bout in February. Donaire said he won’t fall into the trap of losing sight of a dangerous opponent before the big payday.

“It’s a motivation, to prove I’m worthy of fighting Montiel,” Donaire said. “They’re going to see a good fight Saturday, two guys going at it. I know boxing is not just art, it’s entertainment.”

Tuesday’s events made that clear.

Lance.pugmire@latimes.com

Twitter.com/latimespugmire